Meltdown
by ChampagneWishes
Summary: In the grip of a financial crisis a new gang is organizing. Will Terry be able to stop them while juggling college, a family that depends on him, and the pressure of being groomed as Wayne's successor?
1. Chapter 1

I miss Batman Beyond. So I went to see if anyone was still writing fics. And there were! Sooo, I decided to publish something too! I have a story in mind, but it's still sort of forming, so bear with me. Based on current events

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"So you're not going to buy out Powers?" Terry asked as the door to the limo shut behind them.

"No." Bruce leaned heavily on his cane and glared into space."The company's in too much trouble. It would cost more to repay their debts than the company is even worth."

"Oh." Terry thought he had understood the gist of the tense meeting he had just sat through. Several months earlier, Bruce had wisely (as it would later turn out) asked his board to separate Powers Corp into a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises, with their own stock offerings and completely separate financial holdings. Now, Powers had come to Wayne, begging him to buy the company's failing stock. Bruce, Terry and several other advisors had spent the last two weeks pouring over Powers Corp financial statements.

Finally they had to admit, it was a complete loss. The debt was worth more than the company, and it was best just to cut all ties.

"But I'll be ruined!" Powers Jr. had cried when they had delivered the news over the shiny boardroom table. "You can't do this to me! My father SAVED your company when you were too sick to manage it!"

Bruce had said nothing, just let Powers rant. It was only when Powers jumped onto the table and threatened to rush him, that Bruce Wayne had gestured for security to escort him safely out of the building.

"So, what now?" Terry asked.

"We'll buy a few of their better holdings off of them. They'll use that to pay back their creditors. Once they declare Chapter 11, they'll really have no choice." Bruce sighed, "We'll call it a reorganization. Save as many jobs as we can. Make it clear that we owned no stock in their company. Our stock will probably drop a few points, but it will recover."

"How many jobs will be lost?" Terry asked.

Bruce sighed, "Three thousand. At least."

"Can we do anything?"

Bruce leaned back against the plush seats of his car, "I was hoping to get the Plasticon factory up and running, but our company just doesn't have that kind of spare capitol."

"Yeah, no one does..." Terry looked out the window. He saw it every day. Crime in the city had spiked dramatically with the downturn in the economy. There were more Jokerz and Tees every day. Kids who had nowhere to go and nothing else to do. There was a wait list just for pizza delivery jobs. Terry knew he was lucky to have Wayne and his "allowance" which had grown steadily year after year. He was a junior in college now, and he, unlike most of his classmates, knew there would be a job waiting for him when he graduated. Of course, his fellow students probably wouldn't have to wear masks.

It wasn't just at the low levels. Dana's father had sold their home and "downsized." He said he was just "tired of all the empty space" but Terry saw the strain in his eyes, and Dana had gotten a part- time job as a waitress for "shopping funds."

His mother's hours at the hospital where she worked as an administrator had been cut, as had her salary, but really, due to lay offs, she was just working more hours for less pay. At least Matt could be home by himself now, and Terry had gotten him a part time internship at Wayne Enterprises, although mostly he just got coffee for the executives and sorted zero- clearance files in the database. Terry still smirked to himself when he thought about the moment Matt had realized his brother was a "somebody" at Wayne. In fact, after the big- wigs discovered he was Terry McGuinesses' little brother, they had all been much nicer to him.

Terry had been planning to move out and get his own place, but then his mother confessed that she was having trouble keeping up with the mortgage and was worried about saving for Matt's college tuition and her own retirement. Terry had received, to no one's surprise, the first Wayne Enterprise Scholarship for Entrepreneurial Excellence (at least Wayne hadn't tried to pretend it was for academic achievement) and he paid nothing to go to school. So instead of moving out, Terry had stayed at home. But now she didn't ask about the odd hours he kept. She just accepted that sometimes he had to work late for Wayne. Who, now that employed both her sons, paid Terry's scholarship, and part of the mortgage... Well, it was just something to be dealt with. Although she had told Terry many times she didn't like feeling like they were indebted to Wayne.

Terry had just assured her that really Bruce was just happy to have him. And he only knew how to show this sort of gratitude with cash. And Terry assured her that he earned every cent. And Bruce did demand that he maintain a certain GPA to keep his scholarship.

In fact... Bruce glanced down at his watch. "You're going to be late to class." He said.

Terry rolled his eyes, "Yeah, Business 303: Raising Capitol for Corporations. Maybe I'll figure out a way for you reopen to Plasticon."

Wayne just grunted at him as the car steered into the the school parking lot. A couple of people stopped to stare at the imported model. "Don't forget." Bruce said, as he tossed Terry's backpack out to him.

"Like I ever would."

Terry wouldn't be needing a ride home. From here, it'd be time to hit the skies in the Bat Mobile.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! Amazing response! Thank you so much everyone who reviewed! I had no idea there were still so many loyal fans out there!**

**Just a quick note, I decided that seeing as this series ended like a decade ago? The technology used in it was seriously out of date (Terry's cell was bigger and did less than my Blackberry) so I've thrown in a few of my own inventions… And maybe one created by Tony Stark. ;)**

**Hope y'all keep enjoying! (And remember faves & alerts are nice, but reviews are love)**

**-CW**

Terry liked college. More than he thought he would. He remembered arguing with Bruce (he had never dared bring up the subject with his mother) that he didn't _need_ to go to college. He was Batman. A Bachelor's wasn't exactly a pre-req for beating up criminals.

But then, in many ways, college was easier than high school. Or at least more flexible. And he made sure not to take any classes that started before 10am, and while the workload was seemingly endless most of the time there weren't nightly assignments that _needed_ to be completed by the next morning.

He slid into his seat in the lecture and smiled at the blond with the big green eyes who always sat three seats over, although they had never exchanged any actual words. It wasn't like high school, where everyone had to know _everyone_.

"Alright class, settle down…" His professor told the nearly silent classroom as shuffled in, he staring at the ground and holding a battered looking briefcase. His grey hair was always ruffled and somehow even though he was always in a hurry he was always late. "Did everyone do last night's reading? Good. Good." He didn't even wait for a response. Terry smirked as he flicked open the doc on his laptop. It was an article about Wayne Enterprises. He was standing in the background of the holopic and was quoted in the article.

"Hey," The blond leaned over and swiveled her screen, "Is that you?" She whispered, pointing to Terry's siloutte.

"Oh uh, yeah." Terry shrugged.

"Really?"

"Yeah,"

"That's pretty cool." She smiled, revealing two neat rows of very white teeth outlined by shimmery pink lips.

"Thanks."

"Alright, so can you all tell me what reasons were given in the article for Wayne Enterprises issuing new stock?" His eyes sleepily drifted across the classroom.

"Uh, he was raising money for his new Corp, the uhmm…" The kid who was talking scanned the article again, "The McGuiness Project. It was a new uhmm…"

"A new research division for Biopharmaceuticals specializing in immunosuppressant research. Yes, yes," The professor said impatiently, "By why did he issue preferred stock at below par? Anyone?"

Terry felt like it would be cheating if he raised his hand. He also knew the answer wasn't even in the article. The question was more theoretical. Wayne had explained it all to him though.

"No one?" The professor scanned the classroom. "The stock was issued as preferred to allow it to be callable in case of-? Anyone?" He looked around the room, "You, there," he pointed at Terry, "Why do you think? Come, come, don't be shy."

"Me?" Terry asked. Terry saw the blond girl hide a smile behind her hand,

"Yes, you. What's your name?"

"Uhmm, McGuiness. Terry McGuiness."

"Ah, how fitting. This Corp is practically your namesake. So perhaps you can enlighten us."

Terry felt the back of his neck growing hot, "It was issued as preferred so the stock could be callable in case the market value went too far down. Wayne had no faith in the company." Terry smirked.

"What you mean is that the board had no faith."

Terry smiled, no the board had backed him. It was Wayne who didn't fully believe in the bright young researcher Terry had met while going undercover for one of Batman's cases. "Uh, yeah sure." He shrugged.

"So, you," He pointed to another student, "Why can we assume that it was the board who had no faith?"

"Hey, so are you like some super- exec guy here to like spy for Wayne Enterprises or something?" The blond whispered.

"Nope, I'm just a normal college student." The girl's eyebrows arched, like she didn't believe him. "Well, I mean, I work for Wayne, but I'm still only a student."

"Riiight."

When the professor dismissed the class sixty minutes the later the blond caught his arm just as he stood to leave. "Hey, you seem to really get all this stuff. And it's like totally going over my head. Maybe I could buy you a cup of coffee and you could try and explain it all to me? Maybe something will…" She looked up at him from under thick black lashes, "Stick…"

Terry swallowed hard, and tried to gently pry his arm away from her grip. He was pretty sure she didn't need "tutoring." "Oh, I uh… Well, you know, school and working for Wayne, I'm uh, really busy. Like… A lot."

"Oh, okay…" The girl's face fell, and Terry felt bad. Maybe she really was having trouble with the class.

"But you, I think I have some tomorrow. At like 2, if you wanted to meet me at Café Coco?"

"Thanks, that'd be great! I really appreciate. Here, in case you can't make it." She tapped a button on her phone and a small piece of paper ejected from the bottom. "Here's my number."

An auto - dispense phone. Terry got the feeling she gave her number out a lot. Oh well. He took out his own phone, scanned the paper and it instantly added her entry. Full name, phone number and a photo of her in a bright blue bikini leaning against a railing backed up against an ocean of crisp blue waves. As the real flesh and blood girl stood watching he sent her a contact return page so she would have his number.

"T.M. and no photo… Very discreet." She winked.

Terry shrugged, "W E protocol."

"Righttt- looks like your employer has you on a pretty tight leash." She winked, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

He made a mental note to run her through the BatCom later. Then checked himself. He was starting to be a little paranoid… It was just coffee and studying. In a very public place. He could check up on her after. If he needed to.

He glanced at his watch. It was almost eight and time for him to hit the skies. With a quick glance around him, he headed for the E-Vac steps and using a magnetized decode key(a little gadget Max had whipped up) deactivated the electronic lock. Glancing around once more he slid through and pulled it shut behind him. He raced up the stairs two at a time and hit the roof just as the Bat Mobile materialized out of thin air. Another device of Max, it was triggered to appear whenever Terry AND the bat suit got within five feet.

Max was now a full- time employee of Wayne Enterprises, having somehow completed her entire college degree in a year. Wayne had created a sub- division in his electronics department called product pre- development and let Max call herself the head- developer, even though she was the departments only employee. A few ideas a year passed up for possible max- distribution and no one paid any attention to her little side projects, like very-illegal-electronic-decoding-key-swipes.

Safely enclosed in the cockpit, Terry pulled off his outer layer of clothing and pulled on the mask as he flicked the Bat Mobile to life and soared into sky. For one moment he let himself just enjoy the thrill of launching himself upwards, the thrill of flying, his stomach leaping into his throat, then Bruce was there.

"Batman, you're three minutes late."

Terry sighed, "Class ran long."

"So you weren't just getting a girl's number?"

"Geez, are you monitoring my phone now?"

"Now?"

Terry gave up, "Any action out there BIM, or am I just cruising?"

"Just cruising for now Batman, I will inform you if there are any new developments." BIM was short for Batman Intermediary Monitoring. If Bruce or Max couldn't be at the computer talking to Terry and keeping constantly updated on city alerts, then BIM was there. More and more Max and Bruce let BIM handle Terry's routine nights, and "told" BIM only to alert them if something was wrong or BIM calculated a high percentage chance that something was about to go wrong.

So far, the system had only failed them once. And it just turned out that Terry was sleeping. BIM just hadn't registered Terry taking off the suit. The frantic phone calls from to the house and Terry's cell had woken everyone up and Terry had to cover up with a story about a possible hostile takeover of Wayne Enterprises and that Wayne had called all hands on deck. He had completed the lie by getting on bike and driving to Wayne Manor. Walking in, he'd walked over to a couch and gone right back to sleep.

An explosion ripped through the night, and Batman was instantly on alert.

"BIM, what was that?"

"Information still unclear. Vicinity of Obama and Park."

"Headed there now, update me fast BIM."

"GPS location states that was the old Plasticon factory."

"What? BIM notify Wayne."

"Already done. I calculated an 82% probability that you would run into difficulty."

"Wow BIM, lotta faith in me."

"In 77.8% of explosions in this city, the cause has been deliberate. I also calculate a 29% chance of human casualty. It's a heavily populated area."

"Thanks BIM." Terry pressed the Bat Mobile forward.

"I calculate your speeds are above the legal limits set in place to safe guard against…"

"BIM?"

"Yes Batman?

"Just get Wayne."


End file.
